1. Field
This invention relates to firearms and is particularly directed to a mechanism which reduces the recoil forces felt by a shooter discharging a firearm, particularly a shotgun.
2. State of the Art
When firearms, particularly rifles and shotguns, are discharged, recoil forces are generated which are felt on the shoulder of the shooter. Numerous efforts have been undertaken to bring about the reduction, if not the total elimination, of recoil felt at the recoil pad of a firearm. None of these efforts has been of material effectiveness in a practical context, however. Accordingly, sports enthusiasts, soldiers and other gunners have come to expect and accept the shock of recoil upon the discharge of a rifle, shotgun or similar shoulder-mounted firearm. Such recoil is associated with physical discomfort, inaccuracy (due to involuntary "jump") and anxious anticipation.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,290,815 and 3,381,405 disclose recoil reducing mechanisms which include a cylinder mounted within the stock of a firearm parallel the longitudinal axis of the barrel. Such a mechanism includes a relatively heavy piston between opposed springs. The relatively massive piston thus reciprocates within the sleeve to absorb recoil energy. U.S. Pat. No. 3,330,889 discloses a similar inertial responsive mass within a cylindrical sleeve with an air bleed orifice provided through the inertial mass. The air bleed accommodates movement of the mass within the cylinder without the development of air locks.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,290,815; 3,330,889; 3,381,405; 3,683,534; and 4,279,091 each disclose a recoil reducing mechanism which employs a movable mass with a spring on each side of that mass. The disclosures of each of these patents is incorporated by reference as a portion of this disclosure for their respective teachings concerning the problems associated with recoil and the manner in which recoil reducing mechanisms are commonly installed within the stock of a firearm.
None of the systems utilized heretofore to reduce the recoil forces (developed during the discharge of a firearm) translated to the shoulder of a gunner, (typically through a recoil pad), has been effective. There remains a need for a recoil reducing system which will dampen the peak recoil felt by a gunner to an appreciable extent. There also remains a need for a system which avoids the sensation of short-term peak force development characteristically experienced by gunners discharging firearms equipped with recoil reducing mechanisms of the prior art.